Reel will play in front of 'The Hobbit,' five months before release

Trekkies, get your ears on: Paramount will premiere the first nine minutes of “Star Trek Into Darkness” exclusively at 500 Imax locations more than five months prior to the film’s May 17 release, marking the pic’s first footage made available to the public.

The “Star Trek” material will act as an extended trailer in front of “The Hobbit” when it bows Dec. 14.

The reel marks the third time Imax has previewed sequential footage of a film — and the first for a 3D pic — after “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” The mega-screen exhib screened sizzle reels for “Tron: Legacy” and “Avatar.”

“Our longtime partners J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk and the Bad Robot team have really hit it out of the park — the footage is absolutely incredible,” said Imax prexy Greg Foster. “Their use of the Imax camera and canvas is sure to impress current and future Star Trek fans alike.”

Abrams produced the pic, along with Bad Robot’s Burk and Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, all of whom share scripting duties.

Like Christopher Nolan did with “Rises,” Abrams used Imax cameras to shoot several sequences that will play only at Imax plexes. Abrams has been extremely tight-lipped about the pic’s logline; as a joke, the director appeared on TV’s Conan O’Brien last month purporting to introduce a trailer — but showed only three frames.